1 John 2:18-20

Contemporary English Version

The Enemy of Christ

¹⁸Children, this is the last hour. You heard that the enemy of Christ would appear at this time, and many of Christ's enemies have already appeared. So we know the last hour is here. ¹⁹These people came from our own group, yet they were not really part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. But they left, which proves they did not belong to our group.

²⁰Christ, the Holy One,^[a] has blessed^[b] you, and now all of you understand.^[c]

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Footnotes

2.20 Christ, the Holy One: The Greek text has “the Holy One” which may refer either to Christ or to God the Father.
2.20 blessed: This translates a word which means “to pour olive oil on (someone's head).” In Old Testament times it was the custom to pour olive oil on a person's head when that person was chosen to be a priest or a king. Here the meaning is not clear. It may refer to the ceremony of pouring olive oil on the followers of the Lord right before they were baptized or it may refer to the gift of the Holy Spirit which they were given at baptism (see verse 27).
2.20 now all of you understand: Some manuscripts have “you understand all things.”